1.5 Accessing Other Directories

  If you are an experienced user and have created subdirectories, you may change your default directory without leaving IDL by using the CD command. For example, if you have a subdirectory called [.rrlyr] (using VMS syntax as you would on the IUE alpha), you can make it your current working directory by typing

CD,'[.rrlyr]',current=old 

Note that we used the keyword CURRENT to save the name of the current directory (in variable ``old'') before changing to directory [.RRLYR]. You can then go back to your old directory by typing

CD,old

Note: When you leave IDL, your default directory will be the same as it was when you entered IDL, whether you used the CD command or not.

Directory specifications can also be included in most procedure calls that have the ``imaget'' parameter. For example, you can run the LABEL command on an image (lwp12345llg.lab) located in your [.rrlyr] subdirectory by typing

LABEL,'[.rrlyr]LWP12345LLG',0,0

instead of actually changing directories. This may be more convenient if you do not plan to do extensive work in the subdirectory.